


You Are the Worst Hallucination Ever

by CydSA



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stargate Atlantis Fusion, Atlantis is Peggy, M/M, Magical Animals, Not-cat cats, Sentient Atlantis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12752928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CydSA/pseuds/CydSA
Summary: Tony always touches things. Steve gets to pick up the pieces. Atlantis is not going to let her favorite son lose the one he loves.Also when is a cat not a cat?





	You Are the Worst Hallucination Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the amazing [ padawanewan ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/padawanewan) who is the most brilliant OCD beta ever, Plus she thinks I'm awesome & wants to marry me so there's that.
> 
> Also to [ paleogymnast ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/paleogymnast) for the art collab. Thanks bb. Check out her lovely art here http://archiveofourown.org/works/12750837
> 
> This is possibly one of the craziest things I've written. I am not sorry

The familiar whoosh of the gate caused Pepper to look up. Clint was the first one through, bow extended in front of him as though he was expecting an enemy. To be fair, that was Clint’s default opinion of the world in general so Pepper tried not to be offended.

Thor and Natasha followed, Tony draped across their shoulders which left Steve the last to cross over, walking backward, shield and gun out. The gate closed the moment Steve’s feet hit the ramp.

“You fucking dickhead!” Clint spun to glare at Tony. “How many fucking times have we told you not to fucking touch any fucking thing you don’t have a fucking clue about?”

“Say ‘fucking’ one more time, Clinton, please.” Bruce stood with a gurney ready. “Could you please help the idiot onto the stretcher?”

“Hey!” Tony complained as Thor and Natasha basically dumped him on the gurney. “Injured here!”

“Because you don’t fucking listen!” Clint’s shout could have raised the dead. In Atlantis, anything was possible, so Natasha put a calming hand on his arm.

“It purred at me,” Tony explained as Pepper made her way down the stairs towards the team. “It reminded me of my cat.”

“You’ve never had a cat, Tony,” Pepper said, reaching out to touch his forehead. “What happened, Captain?”

Steve frowned down at Tony who was waving Bruce away with an impatient hand. “Something bit him,” he said with a sigh.

“Did you bring a sample?” Bruce asked, ever hopeful.

“I brought you one better,” Natasha said with a wink that made Bruce blush. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a hissing animal that looked like a cross between a cat and a raccoon by the scruff of its neck. “Meet Matilda.”

“Matilda?” Pepper arched an eyebrow at Steve who shrugged. 

“She's magic,” Tony whispered before he passed out.

“I love drugs,” Clint said, grinning at Bruce. “They are literally the only things that shut Stark up.”

Steve brushed an imaginary hair off Tony's forehead. “I like him talking,” he said. “It means he's alive and okay.”

“He sure has a mouth on him,” Clint agreed, yelping when Natasha dug a pointy finger into his ribs.

“Bring Matilda to the infirmary,” Bruce told Natasha. “We'll need to test her for toxicity to humans.”

Natasha followed Bruce and the gurney with the hissing, spitting creature firmly in hand. Clint and Thor were on her heels, looking once over at Steve who nodded at them to go.

Pepper watched them leave and turned to Steve. “How come it’s always Tony?” she asked.

Steve shook his head. “Every time,” he grumbled. “He promises every goddamn time that he’ll be careful.”

“And then he isn’t,” Pepper said with a smile as she led the way to her office. “Shall we debrief now so that you can go and hover over him?”

Steve flushed. “I don’t hover.” As arguments went, it wasn’t his strongest. He slumped into the chair in front of her desk. “He needs constant supervision.”

“And Clint, Natasha or Thor aren’t up to the job?” Pepper teased as she sat down behind the desk.

“They indulge him,” Steve complained. 

“As do you,” Pepper said. She ignored the scowl Steve sent her way. “Now, report please, Captain Rogers.”

~~~~~

Tony loved drugs. They made the pain go away. He waved a hand in front of his face. “Oooh, rainbows,” he crooned.

“He’s so high,” Clint cackled. “I should be recording this.”

“Don’t be an ass, Barton,” Bruce said, not looking up from his inspection of Matilda. “Make yourself useful and come and help Thor hold on to the cat thing.”

Thor, as big and brawny as he was, was looking mildly terrified as he struggled to hold on to Matilda. “Your assistance would be most appreciated, friend Clinton,” he said as the animal swiped at him with vicious claws.

Clint looked ready to argue but a sharp glance from Natasha had him heading over to Thor. “You hold the front legs and I’ll hold the back,” he suggested. Matilda was not impressed, yowling as they tried to wrestle her down to the table.

“Don’t hurt my cat!” Tony yelled from his bed.

“It’s not yours and it’s not a cat,” Steve said as he came into the infirmary.

“Steve!” Tony exclaimed, making grabby hands at him. “Oh Captain, my Captain!”

Natasha snorted a laugh as she watched Steve’s ears turn pink. “I wish you two would get your heads out of your asses and get together already.”

“We’re friends,” Steve insisted, even as he allowed Tony to grab one of his hands and tug him closer. “I’d never do anything to jeopardize that.”

Matilda chose that moment to let out a shriek of rage. Tony tried to launch himself out of the bed to rush to her rescue. Steve lunged for him, holding him down. “Nope, you stay put, Tony.”

There was a mild struggle, but Tony was almost as limp as spaghetti. It wasn’t exactly equal. “I want my cat,” he pouted.

Steve folded like a bad hand of cards, with the full force of the Stark pout directed at him. He sent a helpless glance over to Natasha who just rolled her eyes. “You’re pathetic,” she told him.

“Nat, Natty, Tasha,” Tony warbled, beaming at her. “Have I ever told you that you’re fucking gorgeous?”

“Call me Natty again and you’ll be drinking through a straw for the next ten years,” she warned. Tony blanched, clutching his blanket to him like a binky. 

‘You’re mean,” he breathed.

Natasha raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Don’t care.” She turned to where Clint and Thor were still struggling to hold the animal. “Just let me kill it,” she said, pulling out her truly terrifying knife. “That’ll stop the blood-letting.”

Tony gave a screech, sitting up abruptly again. Steve barely managed to catch him. “Don’t you fucking touch my cat, you evil monster!” he yelled.

Bruce rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going to kill Matilda, Tasha.” He pointed at Tony. “You. Lie down and shut up. You moving around is only helping the venom move faster through your blood-stream.”

“I remember seeing such a creature, once,” Thor said. “However, it was much larger and less… fluffy.” He frowned, paused. “Perhaps it was not such a creature after all.” 

Tony folded his arms. “Don’t you hurt Matilda,” he warned. “You won’t like me when I’m angry.”

“Oh, so the delightful you that we have to deal with on a daily basis is not the angry you?” Clint asked. “Good to know.”

Steve glared at Clint. “That’s not helpful.”

Matilda fought against Thor and Clint and finally, Bruce managed to get her tranquilized. “I hope this holds long enough for me to draw some of the poison.”

“It’s in her teeth,” Tony supplied with a beam of pride. “She’s so badass.”

Steve couldn’t hide his own grin. 

“And I’d never have guessed that the venom was in her teeth without that astute observation, Dr. Stark.” Bruce’s reply was bone-dry but his eyes twinkled. “What _would_ we do without you?”

“Pray to god you never have to find out,” Tony said a moment before he passed out again.

Steve put a hand on Tony’s forehead, ignoring the knowing glint in Natasha’s green eyes. “He feels hot,” he said.

“At least you didn’t say that he _looks_ hot,” Clint said. “I’d like to keep my lunch down.” He skipped out of the reach of Natasha’s foot and promptly smacked his head into a shelf. Nobody even pretended not to laugh.

Bruce put the venom sample in the analysis instrument. Clint and Tony had both been forbidden from naming any Ancient technology. Ever.

“It shows up as slightly toxic but it doesn’t account for the reaction that Tony is having,” Bruce said with a frown.

The machines monitoring Tony suddenly went haywire and everyone rushed towards the bed. Tony’s eyes were rolling back in his head and he was shaking as though he was having a fit.

“Tony!” Steve’s voice was filled with panic and he held on to Tony’s shoulders, holding him down while Bruce raced to get something to help. “What’s going on?” he yelled at Bruce.

“I have no idea, Captain and while I’d like to point out that I haven’t had any time to actually examine Dr. Stark, I’m not going to be that petty.”

“And yet…” Natasha drawled as she held on to Tony’s legs.

Thor put a big hand on Tony’s chest and closed his eyes. “It’s his heart,” he murmured. “Whatever the poison in the teeth of our new friend is, it has reached his heart and is destroying it.”

Steve went pale. “Is there something we can do?” he asked, eyes darting from Thor to Bruce.

Bruce shook his head. “I’m flying blind here, Steve. The composition of the venom should not be causing this.”

“I believe we should put the good doctor in the stasis pod until we have discovered a way to cure him,” Thor suggested. “He grows ever weaker.”

Tony’s thrashing had slowed down, hands in limp fists. “Do it,” Steve ordered.

Thor picked Tony up, yanking wires and monitors as he headed to the stasis room. Steve, Clint and Natasha followed with Bruce remaining behind to try and figure out what was going on.

The Ancients had left these pods here. Once upon a time, they’d discovered a future version of Pepper in one of them, warning them of the calamity to come which was still something none of them talked about. Now they stood empty.

“I don’t know how to open them,” Thor said, Tony’s body still and seeming small against him.

Steve put his hand on the control box, willing Atlantis to hear him. “Save him,” he whispered.

The glass slid away, Atlantis, as always, eager to please Steve. Thor hurried to place Tony carefully against the cushioned wall of the pod. He stepped back and the pod closed, flooding with some sort of gas that quickly liquefied around Tony’s body, turning solid a few moments later.

Steve put his hand against the glass. “Hold on, Tony, we’ll figure this out,” he promised.

“Man, now I feel shit that I crapped on him,” Clint said. 

“He knows not to take it seriously,” Steve said, not looking away from Tony. 

“I’m going to see if I can assist Dr. Banner,” Thor said. “Perhaps what venom the creature carries will have no effect on me.”

“Thor, you may not be human, but I’ve seen you come down with a cold. Many of the same things that make humans ill affect you too.” Steve reached out to clasp his shoulder. “I’m going to leave the science to Bruce and I’ll go and do some research on the Ancient database to see if I can find any sort of reference to our new sort of feline friend.”

“Remember, we can’t kill it,” Natasha said, appearing a little putout. “I really don’t want to deal with Tony being even more pissed off at me than he is already going to be.”

Steve turned away from the stasis pod, the image of Tony’s frozen face in his mind. “Let me know if Bruce comes up with anything?” he said.

“Of course,” Natasha inclined her head in that slow, stately way that made a person feel as though they’d been blessed by a queen.

Clint looked between them. “I’ll stay with Tony,” he said. “What?” His shoulders hunched up defensively when they all looked at him. “I actually _do_ care about the douche even if he makes me crazy.”

Natasha’s warm, approving smile had him relaxing. “Besides, I need to clean my weapons, may as well do it here.”

Steve nodded to them all. “Call if there is anything to report,” he ordered.

Thor and Natasha headed back to the infirmary and Bruce. Clint settled on one of the ledges that appeared out of the wall at Atlantis’ whim. Steve spun back to Tony. “Don’t you give up, Tony Stark. You promised we’d finally have that date. I’m expecting fireworks.” The words were so soft that nobody could hear them.

But, the city did.

And she started working on making her most beloved son’s desires come true.

~~~O~~~~

Tony dreamed of oceans and agony. Of monsters sucking his life from his body and Steve throwing himself on him, letting the monsters drain him dry instead. Of holes in space and sentient cities.

None of it could be real. He opened his eyes and looked into a gorgeous redhead’s eyes. “Welcome back, Tony. You gave us quite a scare.”

“Um,” Tony said. He blinked. “Who are you?”

She frowned. “It’s me, Pepper.”

He frowned too. “You’re named after a condiment?”

Her lips thinned and she turned to talk to someone that Tony couldn’t see. “Something’s wrong.”

A guy who looked about Tony’s age moved up beside the weirdly named woman. “Do you know who you are?” he asked. He looked like a cautious owl as he peered at Tony through his spectacles.

“Of course I know who I am,” Tony snapped. “I’m Dr. Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

The owl guy blinked. “Huh.” He turned away, heading back to some sort of odd machine. “I may have made a minor miscalculation,” he muttered.

“Minor?” The woman, Salt or Mustard or something, shrieked in a way that made Tony’s head hurt. “He doesn’t have a clue who he is!” Her voice rose as she spoke.

“That’s just stupid,” Tony told her. “I know exactly who I am. I’m Iron Man.”

~~~O~~~~

Steve wasn’t coping well. Somehow, Bruce had figured out an antidote to the venom from Matilda. But something had gone wrong. The Tony that had opened his eyes in the infirmary after a week in the stasis pod wasn’t the Tony that they all knew. The Tony that _he_ knew.

He rewound the recording of the loud declaration of Tony being Iron Man. It made no sense.

He tried not to jump when Natasha appeared beside him. He’d learned that she was a shadow when she wanted to be. “Who is this Iron Man that Tony speaks of?” she asked.

“He’s a comic book character back on Earth,” Steve explained. Natasha’s normally blank face went ever blanker. “Oh, I’m sorry, Natasha. A comic book is a small illustrated book that tells stories.” He clamped his lips together. “In the comic books, Iron Man is a man who invents a special metal suit of armor that he uses to help people and destroy Earth’s enemies.”

“This Iron Man sounds like a worthy warrior,” Thor said, coming up beside him. “Why would friend Tony be hiding this from us?”

Steve wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. “Because it’s not real,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “Somehow, whatever that poison did to Tony, and whatever happened while he was in stasis, he’s come out thinking that he’s a superhero.”

“But of course, he’s a hero,” Natasha said, her eyes still on where Tony lay. “I wouldn’t always call him super, but…”

That made Steve grin reluctantly. “I won’t disagree with that,” he agreed. “However, Iron Man doesn’t exist and Tony Stark _does_. We have to fix this.”

“How do you propose to do this, Captain?” Thor asked, hand resting on the hilt of his hammer. “It could be perilous to submit Tony to either the venom or the stasis pod once more.”

Steve gave an aggravated groan. “Dammit, Tony. Why the hell do you always have to touch things?” He didn’t take his gaze from where Bruce ran several scans over an increasingly scowling Tony.

“This Iron Man, you say he wears a suit of armor?” Natasha asked.

“Yes,” Steve said, not sure where she was going with this. “Why?”

“Perhaps you could suggest to our good doctor that he tells us where to locate his armor so that we may bring it to him.” Natasha’s lip curled. 

“And he won’t be able to!” Steve exclaimed. He threw his arms around Natasha. “Have I told you lately how fabulous you are?”

She patted his shoulder. “Not recently, but please, Captain, you know that I am uncomfortable with your Earth forms of affection.”

He quickly let her go. “Sorry, Tasha, I didn’t mean to take liberties.” 

She inclined her head. “Shall we go then and test our theory?”

~~~O~~~~

Tony looked up when the infirmary doors swished open. “Cap!” he exclaimed with delight. “Will you please tell this person that I’m perfectly fine?” He waved a hand at Bruce.

Steve frowned. “You recognize me?” he asked.

Tony gaped at him. “Of course I do, Capsicle. I mean, you are our illustrious leader, aren’t you?”

“Our?” The voice to Steve’s left had Tony swinging his gaze that way. “Tasha!” he beamed. “You’re here too? Worried about me?” He winked at her.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Where else would I be, Tony? You are my teammate and you were injured. I was concerned for you.”

Tony opened his mouth. And closed it again. Something was wrong. “Where am I?” he asked, his voice suddenly very small.

“Why don’t you tell us where you _think_ you are? “ Dr. McSpectacles asked.

“I’m assuming that I’m in the hospital. Probably at SHIELD because this doesn’t look like Avengers Tower,” Tony said.

The room went even quieter. 

“Tony,” Steve said, stepping closer and resting a hand on his arm. “Who am I?”

Tony stared at him. “Guys, this isn’t funny anymore. JARVIS, please just tell them I’m okay.”

The silence that greeted his request made something in Tony’s chest clench. “J?” he whispered.

“Who is this JARVIS you speak of, friend Tony?” Thor boomed. “In all the days of our acquaintance, you have not mentioned this name.”

Tony shrank back against the pillows. “I’m not laughing anymore,” he told Steve.

“Neither are we,” Steve said. “I think maybe there might have been a glitch in the Matrix.”

Tony froze. “You’ve seen the Matrix?” he asked.

“It’s my second favorite movie, Tony. It’s one of the only ones you’re willing to watch with me without debunking the science.” Steve sat on the edge of the bed. “I mean, after Star Wars.”

Tony shoved the blankets away abruptly, stumbling off the bed and away from the people looking at them. “Who the fuck are all of you?” he hissed. “And where the fuck is the rest of my team?”

He threw his wrists out, calling the armor, or at least a glove with a repulsor to him, but nothing happened. “What have you done to my armor?” He tried not to show how freaked out he was. Apparently, looking at the concern on all of their faces, he wasn’t all that successful.

Thor took that moment of confusion to wrap him in his brawny arms and say to the doctor. “Perhaps a sedative might be the best thing until we can mend our friend, Dr. Banner?”

Tony tried to struggle but Thor was built like a brick shit-house. And seriously, what the hell was a brick shit-house anyway? Tony was going to get right on that once he got back to his lab.

The prick of a needle had him going limp. “What are you going to do to me?” he asked, staring up at not-Steve’s face in fear. 

“We’re going to get you back,” Steve said as he crouched beside Tony, brushing his hair away from his forehead. “I promise, Tony, we’re going to get you back.”

“Been here all along,” Tony slurred as he slid into unconsciousness.

~~~O~~~~

“This is very not good,” Pepper said as she paced her office. Steve stood at parade rest while Natasha, Clint and Thor slouched in various chairs. They'd been here for over an hour with not a plan between them.

“Tony is not himself,” Natasha agreed.

“He thinks he’s Iron Man.” Clint snickered in his chair but stopped abruptly when Natasha turned her gaze to him. “It’s funny,” he insisted.

“Having our Chief Science Officer believing that he is a fictitious Earth-based superhero is _not_ funny, Barton.” Pepper’s stare was almost as terrifying as Natasha’s. Steve had learned that when it came to the women in his life, he seldom argued. Clint tried to turn invisible.

“So how do we help him to regain his own self again?” Thor asked. “It is a concern.”

“The stasis pods were not built for jamming people in and out of them willy-nilly,” Steve said.

“Did you just say willy-nilly?” Clint asked. He yelped. Natasha hadn’t allowed him to get away with his snark this time. He rubbed at his ear and shifted his chair further away from her.

Bruce came in a moment later. “I’ve put him in restraints,” he said, almost apologetically. “I’m not sure how he’s going to react to the sedative with the remnants of Matilda’s venom still probably in his blood stream.”

“How is he, Bruce?” Steve asked. Thinking about Tony tied down and afraid made him feel sick.

“I’ve been running diagnostics for the past hour and his system is,” he paused. “There’s no other word for it. His system is compromised.”

“Explain,” Pepper ordered.

Bruce took off his glasses, wiping idly at them as he spoke. “Whatever element I _couldn’t_ find in the poison has affected Tony’s heart. It’s basically eating away at the tissue.”

The blunt words had Steve stagger to a chair.

Pepper went pale. “What?”

“At the rate the venom is destroying the heart tissue; Tony will need a heart transplant in about a day.” Bruce shook his head. “It just doesn’t make sense. There were no necrotizing molecules in the sample that I drew from Matilda.”

Pepper rubbed a shaky hand over her eyes. “Captain, have you discovered anything about what sort of animal Matilda is?”

Steve dropped his head into his hands. “There is nothing that I can find. The only thing I haven’t tried is asking Atlantis for help.”

Pepper waved him off. “Do it. We are out of options.”

He got to his feet again, feeling a little dizzy. “You’ll keep me posted, Doc?” he asked Bruce.

“I’m not leaving his side,” Bruce assured him. “I keep waiting for him to wake up and tell me exactly what I’ve done wrong. It’s disconcerting seeing him so silent and still.”

Clint got up and went to Bruce, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “I’m pretty useless except in combat, so I’ll help keep an eye on the loser,” he said, but his eyes were somber. “Can’t have him wake up without me there to call him Sleeping Beauty or telling him that it was my kiss that woke him up.”

Natasha and Thor stood as well. “Is there anything we can do, Captain?” Natasha asked.

“Maybe take a couple of Marines and go back to that planet?” Steve suggested. “There might be a clue as to what Matilda is or something?” He felt completely helpless.

Thor hugged him. “We shall search high and low, over land and sea to search out a cure for our friend,” he vowed.

Steve patted him, trying to breathe. Sometimes Thor forgot that he had the strength of about … well, about a hundred Steves. “Thanks, buddy,’ he wheezed.

He looked back at Pepper. “If I don’t find an answer, what then?” he asked.

Pepper was still pale. “I refuse to accept that possibility,” she said. “Tony Stark has survived far more than this. Especially as part of your team, Captain. He’s the one who usually comes up with the solutions. This time it’s our turn to save him.”

~~~O~~~~

Steve kissed like a dream, Tony thought. He opened his eyes and looked into Steve’s. “What was that for?” he croaked.

“I thought you’d died,” Steve said with a tiny smirk. “So, I was trying mouth to mouth resuscitation.”

“God, people just never believe me that Captain America is such an _asshole_!” Tony said, still trying to recover from the fact that he’d just been kissed by the guy he had been lusting after for four years.

“It’s because you’ve spent half your life lying to everyone you meet,” Steve told him. He let Tony go and the loss felt was immediate.

“Seriously, why’d you kiss me?” Tony asked. “You’ve been giving a pretty awesome impression of hating my guts for the past few years.”

Steve sighed. “Tony, are you _ever_ going to let that day on the Helicarrier go?” He put both hands on Tony’s shoulders and the heat of him burned through.

“You called me a man in a tin suit,” Tony reminded him, pouting a little.

“We’re a little past that by now, surely?” Steve asked. “At the very least, we’re friends.”

Tony made flailing hands at him, dislodging those lovely, big, warm hands from his shoulders. “Exactly!” He poked a finger in Steve’s rather firm chest. “And not once has there ever been any indication that you are interested in men, let alone _me_!” He shrilled the last word and wasn’t proud of himself.

“I never said that I was only interested in dames,” Steve said, tone mild. “Plus, you never asked.”

Tony felt as though the foundations beneath his feet were wobbling dangerously. “You’re gay?” he squeaked.

“I believe the term is bisexual, Tony,” Steve remonstrated. “I didn’t think you were the sorta guy who tried to fit people into a box.”

“What box? There is not a fucking box for this!” Tony flailed, knocking over his coffee cup. “I woke up this morning, just like normal and now Captain America kissed me! The box has left the building!”

Steve grinned at him, grabbing another mug and pouring more coffee in it. “Nope, the guy that just kissed you was Steve Rogers. He’s a little slow but once he decides on something, he’s pretty determined.” He handed Tony the mug and sauntered away, leaving Tony gaping after him in the kitchen like a particularly demented goldfish.

“What the fuck just happened?” he asked the universe.

“I believe that Captain Rogers just made his intentions to court you clear, sir,” JARVIS said. 

“I’m changing that sarcasm filter, J,” Tony warned as he slurped his coffee. “I’m going to need something stronger than coffee to drink in order to deal with this.”

~~~O~~~~

Atlantis cooed as Steve said down in the control chair. She latched onto his beautiful genes with greed, hurling her adoration at him.

“Calm down, Peggy,” Steve said. “You’re moving too fast.” She’d always been Peggy to him. She seemed too young, too eager to please to be a Margaret.

She sent a pulse of apology his way. “That’s okay,” he said, patting the armrest. “Let’s do some digging, shall we?”

Her question was a spark of confused light. “Tony, my friend, something happened to him and I want to get him back.” He paused, cleared his throat. “I don’t think we can keep saving you without his help.”

Her alarm burst bright red. “I know, I’m scared too. He’s…” He let her feel the emotions that Tony evoked in him, messy and jumbled, but warm and inviting like a winter campfire.

Her answer this time was gentler, blue beats of information thumping into him. He tried to keep up but she was frantic now, desperate to help him. “Peg, please. Stop. Let me give you what I know and we can take it from there, okay?”

Her agreement came in a flash of green, apology stroking at his mind like the tendrils of the old weeping willow back home by the creek.

“Okay, so I’m going to ask you to see if you know anything about this animal,” he said, picturing Matilda in his mind.

Peggy responded with a punch to his skull of silver and black and to Steve, she felt enraged. He pulled out of the interface, falling off the chair onto the ground, sucking at air as though he’d been trapped underwater for hours.

‘What the hell was that?” he asked.

Peggy was silent now, but Steve could feel her awareness around him, her essence in every molecule of the walls and floors. “Peg. Are you telling me that Matilda isn’t what she seems?”

The command chair lit up like the Fourth of July, lights flashing on and off in rapidly increasing Morse code that Steve tried to follow.

“Wait!” he said. “I need help to understand.” He tapped the communicator in his ear. “Clint, you got a moment?”

“Since Sleeping Beauty is still sleeping, I have _all_ of the moments, Cap,” Clint replied. “What do you need?”

“Can you come to the chair control room?” Steve asked. “I think Peggy is trying to tell us something and my Morse code is a little rusty.”

“On my way,” Clint said, clicking off.

Steve leaned against the wall, watching the chair still pulsating with light. “Just what did Tony pick up out there?” he mused.

Clint walked in about five minutes later. “Your lady _really_ wanted me here fast,” he said. “I’ve found a transporter we had no idea existed.” He stared at the chair. “Well, that’s new.”

Steve nodded. “I showed her a mental picture of Matilda, and she went a little nuts. Got several flashes of something that she is not happy about and then this started.” He waved at the chair. “Translation?”

Clint held out a hand. “You got pen and paper?” He knew very well that Steve carried a notebook with him at all times. He documented many of their discoveries with drawings in the book that captured the excitement of the moment rather than the science of it. He handed it to Clint with a grimace.

“There had better not be porn here, Cap. My virginal eyes couldn’t handle it.” Clint grinned at him.

“Don’t be a dick, Barton,” Steve said. “It’s unattractive.”

“Laura thinks it’s adorable,” Clint insisted as he started scribbling. 

“She had a concussion when she said that,” Steve reminded him. “You can’t keep holding onto that as your chance with her.”

“Whatever keeps the hope alive, Cap,” Clint said, tongue poking out of the one side of his mouth as he wrote. “What the fuck?”

Steve moved to stand next to him, reading what Clint had been jotting down. “That makes absolutely no sense,” he said.

“Right?” Clint looked up at the chair and then back down again. “You know, I thought we’d seen just about everything weird that the Pegasus galaxy could throw at us. This one, this takes the prize.”

“What else does she say?” Steve asked, impatient for _some_ sort of answer.

“Matilda is what apparently one of the Ascended,” Clint said.

Steve blinked. “Matilda is an animal.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Clint's eyes rolled hard enough to hurt. “I'm just telling you what your girlfriend is saying.”

“Animals can't ascend,” Steve said, even more confused.

The chair started pulsing again and Steve nudged Clint. “She's got something more to say.”

Clint made a noise beneath his breath but obediently scratched on the notepad again. “Huh.”

“What, huh?” Steve demanded. 

Clint ignored him, focusing on the blinking lights of the chair as Atlantis had her say. Steve wanted to scream at him to hurry up and tell him what he was seeing. This time, Clint was folded over the notepad, almost hiding it away from Steve as he transcribed Atlantis' words. “Call Thor,” he said eventually. “I think he needs to hear this.”

~~~O~~~~  
Tony sat in the kitchen, nursing his coffee and trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Steve Rogers, Captain America, Bastion of Morality had not only kissed him silly but had basically outed himself to Tony.

“What is on your mind, my metal friend?” Thor swept into the kitchen as only Thor could do. Even without his cloak and armor, the Crown Prince of Asgard had a way of commanding a room as very few others did.

“Love,” Tony replied, without thinking about it. “Um.”

Thor beamed at him. “Love!” he boomed. “'Tis my favorite topic, aside from food.” He planted himself in the chair opposite Tony with a box of untoasted Pop-Tarts in front of him and shoved an entire Pop-Tart into his mouth. Tony tried not to wince. “Who is the focus of your affection, my friend? It has been an age since you have enjoyed congress with anyone.” 

Tony did _not_ want to know how Thor knew that. “Not that I'm not completely flattered by your interest in my love-life, big guy, but some things should remain private, you know?”

If anything, Thor's smile went brighter. “Ah, you wish for your beloved to remain anonymous.” He nodded once. “I can understand our Captain's reluctance for us to know that he is planning to engage in sexual activities with a team-mate.”

Tony choked on his coffee. “What?” His eyes teared up as he coughed.

Thor leaned over and gave him a helpful pat on the back that almost tossed Tony off the chair. “Has our noble Captain not made his move?” he asked. “He has expressed several times his admiration for your form.”

Tony was dying. That was the only logical explanation.

~~~O~~~~

Thor and Natasha took a couple of hours to come back. Clint refused to say anything until they got there. Steve was at the point that he was just going to wrestle Clint for the notebook and pride be damned. 

Bruce kept them updated as to the deteriorating condition of Tony's heart and every negative report had Steve hunching further and further in on himself. He was the team leader. He'd gotten so used to Tony's genius getting them out of whatever stupid fix they'd got into, most often Tony's fault in the first place, that he had no idea what to do. The man with a plan had no plan. Nothing. Nada. Bupkiss.

And Clint was making like Fu-Manchu and refusing to answer anything until Thor got back. Pepper looked as though she wanted to throttle him. Steve had decided to leave that to Natasha at their next sparring session. Watching her beat the tar out of every person that took her on was inspirational.

“We have returned!” Thor's voice arrived before he did. It was one of his less endearing qualities.

“I take it back,” Clint stage-whispered to Steve. “ _He's_ Captain Obvious.”

Steve couldn't suppress the snort of laughter. Clint did have his moments.

“Any luck?” Pepper asked, mostly out of politeness. Steve had filled her in on his and Clint's experience with Peggy.

“The place where we found Matilda is no longer there,” Natasha said, eyes moving between Steve and Clint. “It is as though it was a figment of our imagination.”

“And yet, as we can see, thanks to Tony's condition, it wasn't,” Steve said. Natasha inclined her head, her mouth thinning the only indication that she didn't appreciate Steve's slightly cynical comment.

“You called for our return,” Thor said, breaking the icy silence. 

“Specifically, _your_ return, Thor,” Pepper said, waving at Clint. “Atlantis had something to say while you were gone.”

Clint cleared his throat. “So, she was busy with Steve, and he obviously wasn't getting what she was trying to tell him so she started with Morse code.”

“Morse code?” Natasha asked.

“It's an ancient way for the military to communicate so that the enemy cannot intercept their information,” Pepper explained. Natasha nodded her understanding.

“And what did our fair city tell you?” Thor asked Clint.

“She said that Matilda is one of the Ascended,” Clint said. Steve sat in his chair, waiting for the rest, the bit that Clint would not share before.

“But she is an animal,” Natasha said with a confused tilt to her head. “That isn't possible.”

“That’s what I said!” Steve exclaimed.

Thor started pacing, fingers tapping a staccato beat on the chest-plate of his body-shield. “It's not _im_ possible,” he murmured as though to himself.

“What isn't?” Steve asked.

“Matilda hasn't always been a not-cat,” Clint said, finally passing Steve's notebook back to him. “She used to be an Asgardian, one of Thor's people, and when the Wraith came, she hid away.”

“A cowardly act,” Natasha noted.

“Not so,” Thor refuted. “Perhaps Matilda had no choice. Perhaps she chose to hide because she was afraid. That is not cowardice. That is self-preservation.”

“Says here that Matilda's name is actually Loki,” Steve read from Clint's notes.

Thor's hammer left a hole in the window of Pepper's office that she wouldn't quickly forgive him for.

~~~O~~~~

Tony decided to retreat to his workshop. He didn't want the mental image of Thor dissecting his sex life any longer. As it usually included Thor telling Tony about his _own_ “remarkably vigorous lovemaking with my Lady Jane”, it wasn't something that Tony needed to know. Well, not more than he already did.

“Blackout, J,” he said as the doors slid closed behind him.

“Of course, Sir,” JARVIS replied. The pause was like a shout.

“Spit it out, J,” Tony said. “Whatever's got your panties in a twist.”

“As I am incapable of forming a corporeal body, I am assuming that Sir is detecting the concern in my tone.” JARVIS could out-prim the goddamn Queen of England.

“Out with it, you tangle of over-juiced wires,” Tony told him, pointing a screwdriver in the direction of one of the cameras. “I know you have an opinion.”

“My prime directive is to ensure your safety and happiness as you well know, Sir,” JARVIS said. “If I may, it appears as though the attentions of Captain Rogers are not unwelcome to you.”

Tony gave an exceptionally inelegant snort. “News at Ten, J. Steve Rogers is a hot piece of ass and I'd have to be dead not appreciate him. I’ve wanted to ride him like a pony since about two seconds after I saw him.”

“Perhaps Sir should remember who he is talking to,” JARVIS reminded him, censure heavy in his tone. “Captain Rogers is not only a remarkably outstanding physical human specimen; he is also a very good person.”

Tony felt duly chastised. And then he whined, “He kissed me J, and then left.” Ran, more like it, Tony's mutinous mind supplied helpfully.

“Indeed he did, Sir. And something that I have observed about the Captain over the years he has been in residence here at the Tower, he does nothing without purpose.” JARVIS knew exactly how to deliver that one-two punch to the gut that rendered Tony defenseless.

“He's never shown any kind of interest before,” Tony pointed out.

“Perhaps that is because Sir has not been receptive to anything of any substance since your break up with Ms. Potts,” JARVIS suggested.

“Perhaps,” Tony agreed. He looked at the new schematics of the Mark 25. “Hit me with some Nine Inch Nails, J. I always think better when there's a whole lot of noise around.”

The opening bars of 'Closer' hit him like a percussion instrument and he dived into the technology that would keep his brain busy while his subconscious worked out just what had happened.

~~~O~~~~

Thor had gone as pale as a ghost. “Did you say, Loki?” His voice was a ruined thing, guttural and terrified.

Steve frowned at him. Thor was a pretty happy-go-lucky guy despite the fact that his entire race had been destroyed by the Wraith. As long as he had enemies to kill, food to eat and booze to drink, Thor had no issues.

This reaction though, this was something else.

“You recognize the name?” Pepper asked after she'd seen most of her window vanish as Thor's hammer had crashed through it. As per usual, the hammer returned in much the same way, decimating the rest of the large window pane.

“Loki was the name of my brother,” Thor said, something dead in his voice. It hurt to hear. “He, along with the rest of my family, was taken by the Wraith when I was away on a hunting trip.”

“You sure about that?” Clint asked. “Because our pretty city seems really sure that the poisonous beastlet that chomped on Tony is someone you know called Loki.”

Thor shook his head. “That is impossible.”

“I don’t think that word means what you think it means,” Clint said. Steve didn’t think that quoting the Princess Bride was entirely appropriate right now.

Natasha put a hand on Thor’s arm. “Dear friend, we have experienced many things in this universe that are both improbable and impossible. Why would this not be such a thing?”

“My brother is dead!” Thor roared. The floor shook beneath them and the remaining windows rattled. Lighting lit up the shores of the distant islands. They’d never quite figured out just what power Thor carried.

Steve held up his hands, trying to placate him. “Okay buddy, I'm not saying you're wrong.”

“But you are,” Clint added.

Steve glared at him. Sometimes he wished he'd never allowed Clint to come with him to Atlantis. This was one of the many, many, _many_ times.

~~~O~~~~

“Planning on hiding out here forever?” The question had Tony burning his finger with the welding iron as he startled. The air turned a pretty shade of blue as he swore at the pain.

“Creeping up on the guy with a weapon of fiery death is never the best choice, Steven,” he said as he turned around.

Steve slouched on the sofa in the corner of the workshop, ignoring DUM-E's attempts to foist a no-doubt poisonous glass of what-the-fuck-ever on him. He looked edible. It was completely unfair. “Hi there,” Steve said. “Thought I'd better bring you something to eat.”

Tony noticed the sandwich placed on the bench close to him and he snatched half of it up with a grunt. “I'm eating because I need to keep my blood sugar under control. Not because you're bringing me food,” he said.

Steve chuckled, a rich curl of sound that wound around Tony's dick like a vise. 

“You are ridiculously perfect, you do know that right?” Tony said through masticated cheese and ham.

Not even that pretty picture seemed to deter Steve. He just smiled at Tony. “And you're adorable.”

Tony was immediately affronted on his own behalf. “I am _not_!” he insisted. “I am a manly man who mans in a manly way.”

Steve pushed slowly to his feet. “You have no idea how long I've been watching you, do you?” It sounded like a loaded question as he prowled closer.

“You need to be more specific,” Tony said, swallowing hastily as his throat closed. “Are we talking tonight or in general?”

Steve's stupid chest was pressed against Tony's and suddenly his lungs decided that they didn't need to work anymore. “Both,” Steve said in a voice like scraped gravel. That really didn't help the penis situation, Tony thought almost hysterically.

“Are you going to ambush kiss me again?” Tony asked. He was going for an authoritative tone but ended up sounding more like an exhalation.

“And if I said yes?” Steve asked, mouth perilously close to Tony's. “Would you object?”

“No objection, your honor,” Tony breathed as Steve leaned down and kissed him. Every single cell in his body was on fire, he couldn't catch a breath as Steve's tongue swept into his mouth. All he could do was hang on for the ride.

~~~O~~~~

“He's not going to last much longer.” Bruce came into the office, for once the doctor and not the mouse. “If there is a plan, we need to act on it now.”

“Currently there is no plan,” Natasha said.

“There is a plan but Thor is being a dick about it,” Clint said.

“I have no idea what is going on but there had better be a plan in the next five minutes,” Pepper said.

“Matilda!” Steve said.

“What?” Bruce looked between them all and then up at the skies above Atlantis. “I was surrounded by the finest minds in the world and swapped it for this.”

“Now you sound like Tony,” Clint told him. It wasn't a compliment.

“Thank you,” Bruce said. Bruce often missed social cues. “So, what's the plan?”

“Apparently, Thor's brother, Loki, is somehow the not-cat Matilda and is also one of the Ascended,” Clint offered. “Any thoughts?”

Bruce blinked. His eyes looked huge behind his glasses. “Uh…”

“Matilda,” Steve repeated. “We have to get Matilda.” He headed out of Pepper's office trailing the rest of the team behind him like some sort of kite tail. 

“Why do we need Matilda?” Bruce demanded as he scurried to move up next to Steve. “She's not the problem.”

“Peggy says that she is,” Steve said.

“And we all listen to the lonely, semi-crazy, Steve-obsessed city of the Ancients,” Bruce scoffed. And stopped when the lights went out in the corridor. “Err... Oops.”

Steve wanted to shake him. He put a hand against the nearest wall. “Sorry, sweetheart, they're just jealous that you love me best,” he whispered.

Peggy crooned to him as she lit up the corridor once more, the sound of a single note following them to the laboratory next to the infirmary.

Matilda hissed at them from her cage as they all trooped in. They encircled the cage and then looked at Steve. “Now what?” Clint asked.

“How should I know?” Steve muttered. “I'm just the horse at the water. The drinking hasn't happened yet.” He glanced over at Tony. There was no movement, only the soft beeping of the monitors tracking his health.

“You Earth-folk are very strange,” Natasha said.

“Loki?” Thor asked as he crouched down to stare at Matilda. She hissed at him, back arched in a black and silver bow. Her green eyes narrowed and Steve reckoned that if she was out of that cage, she would have taken out a fair section of Thor's face.

“Is Atlantis just messing with us?” Clint whispered to Steve. “I mean, Thor's been alone for what, a hundred years, and now suddenly the poisonous not-cat that bit Tony is his long-lost brother?”

Steve smiled. “Is this really the weirdest thing we've encountered since we've been here?” he asked.

“Fuck, yes,” Clint affirmed. 

Thor opened the cage, holding a hand out to Matilda. “Loki, if it is truly you, then please, let us help you. Your magic has caused damage to our friend and if we can restore you then perhaps we can restore him.”

The not-cat hunkered down in the corner of the cage, growling low in warning, tail lashing in a blur.

“Anyway, how can Thor's _brother_ be a girl not-cat thing?” Clint hissed to Steve.

“You are not helping, Clinton,” Natasha said. It was enough to shut Clint up. Steve really had to get lessons from Natasha on how to do that.

Matilda suddenly moved forward, slinking on her stomach towards Thor, mewling in the back of her throat. To Steve, it sounded like a child's cry for help. It made every hair on his body stand on end.

Thor held out his arms and Matilda leaped into them. The rumbling purr that started immediately after had them staring.

“So, are you and your brother are pretty close, then, huh, Thor?” Of course, it was Clint ‘no filter’ Barton who asked the question.

“He is my _brother_.” Thor said the word as though it was a position beyond compare. Steve supposed that it was to a person who'd lost his entire world. Literally.

Matilda meowed, turning in Thor's arms so that she could look up at him. 

“Is there any reason your brother would have taken refuge in the form of a female feline animal?” Natasha asked Thor.

He cradled Matilda in his arms like a piece of porcelain. “Loki was a trickster, a magus,” he explained. He ran a hand over Matilda's thick fur. “I did not doubt that the Wraith would seek him out as a particularly delicious meal.” The yowl told them all just how Matilda felt about that particular statement. 

“So, he hid.” Steve stared at Matilda. She stared back at him, emerald eyes unblinking as she watched him. “He took a form that would seem harmless to all, unappetizing to the Wraith.”

“I think perhaps we should stop talking about Loki as though he is dead,” Bruce said, reaching out to touch Matilda. “He is clearly alive and I can only assume that he is stuck in this form.” Matilda allowed Bruce to rub her ear.

“But what does that help Tony?” Steve asked. He was very sorry about Thor and his long-lost not-cat brother-sister but his main concern was Tony.

“If we can restore Loki to his true form, he is capable of remarkable magic,” Thor said. “If our friend Tony was infected by Loki's bite then I truly believe that Loki's magic is the cure.”

Pepper stared at them all. “So, which of you geniuses has a way of restoring an Asgardian trapped in not-cat form to Asgardian form?” She looked around. “Anyone?”

~~~O~~~~

Tony liked kissing Steve. Sure, up until today he'd figured that at best, Steve tolerated him. However, the past few hours had indicated that perhaps a little more than tolerance was involved.

Currently, they were both shirtless, chests pressed against each other as they kissed, hands wandering and cocks hard and desperate. It had been a long, cold winter, summer, spring and fall for Tony. Since falling for Steve, nobody else had even been close to appealing.

“Sir,” JARVIS couldn't have sounded more apologetic. “Ms. Potts is insisting on speaking to you.”

Steve dropped his head onto Tony's shoulder, breathing deeply against his skin. “You sure you're not with her anymore?” he asked, voice raspy. Tony wanted to fuck him into the ground.

“Positive,” he groaned. “I think she just likes cock-blocking me.”

“That's a complete lie, Tony Stark, and you know it!” Pepper's voice behind them had Tony realize that she was actually _there_ and not on the line.

“Rewiring _everything_ tomorrow, J,” he hissed as Steve laughed into his neck.

“I'll make a note of it, Sir,” JARVIS said.

~~~O~~~~

“Anybody have any ideas?” Bruce asked after the silence of Pepper's question. 

Steve heard Peggy whisper to him and he reached out to touch the nearest wall. She lit up in pinks and purples, blushing against his palm.

“Looks like our girl might have a suggestion,” Steve said.

“Are we Morse coding again, Cap?” Clint asked.

The shush-shush of the wind that shouldn’t exist was his answer. “Does she know how creepy that is?” Clint edged a little closer to Natasha.

Steve couldn’t help his smile. “She knows. That’s why she does it.”

“Do we go back to the chair control room or is there a way she can talk to us here?” Pepper asked. 

Bruce’s desk console lit up, pulsing at her in flashes of blue and gold. “I guess that answers the question,” Bruce said.

Clint held out a hand to Steve. “Notebook.”

“Use mine,” Pepper said. She knew how much that little book meant to Steve. He appreciated her effortless kindness.

Atlantis was getting impatient, the flashes pulsing faster and faster. Clint glared. “Slow down, lady. Puny human here.”

A sigh echoed around them, impatient and frustrated. 

“She’s getting more and more aware all the time,” Bruce whispered to Steve.

“Not really,” Steve said softly. “She’s always been aware. I just think that she’s finally found her voice.” He felt a little bit like a proud father.

“What?” Clint muttered, scribbling as fast as he could. “That’s just…” He ignored the barrage of questions from the rest of the team and carried on writing, looking up, again and again, asking Atlantis to repeat something occasionally and then shaking his head. 

Finally, the light show stopped. Clint carried on writing for a moment more, frowning and scratching out as he wrote.

“Clint,” Pepper said, eyeing Tony’s bed. They’d all been avoiding looking at him. Except for Steve. He couldn’t keep his gaze off Tony. It wasn’t normal to see him so still, so unanimated. 

“I’m trying to make sense of this,” Clint said, frustrated fingers running through his hair. “What she’s saying, it sounds like a bunch of woo-woo magic crap, and while we’ve seen some crazy shit in our time here, I still believe that it’s all based on science.”

“Tony would be very proud,” Bruce said, plucking the notebook from Clint’s hands. “But he’s sometimes too rigid in his beliefs. Suspension of belief is sometimes the only option.” He read through what Clint had written. 

“What did she say?” Pepper asked.

Bruce handed the notebook to her. “A bunch of woo-woo magic crap,” he said.

Pepper scanned the notes. “Thor, is there something you haven’t been telling us?” she asked, looking up at him a minute or so later.

Thor’s flinch was minute enough that if Steve hadn’t been staring at him, he’d have missed it. “I’m not sure what you mean, Lady Pepper.” He appeared shifty enough, that even with Matilda in his arms, Steve automatically stepped towards the door. Not that it would do any good against Thor. The guy was _strong_.

“Atlantis has indicated that you are not all that you seem,” Pepper said, giving the book to Steve. “That there is more to you than meets the eye.”

Thor hunched his shoulders a little, curling around Matilda. “I am the last of my people. I am nobody.”

Steve read the first line. _Thor is a creature of magic, as is his brother. He will be able to bring your loved one back._ “Talk,” he snarled at Thor. “What is Peggy saying here?”

“As I have not read our fair city’s words to you, I am at a loss to explain,” Thor said. Steve could spot a dodge a thousand miles away.

“She says you are magic,” Clint said, arms folded across his chest. “She says you can save Tony.”

Natasha held out a hand to Steve. “May I?” she asked. He passed the notebook to her. 

“Read it out loud,” Pepper ordered. “And then maybe Thor can help us understand.”

Natasha inclined her head and began to read….

~~~O~~~~

Tony pulled away from Steve, making it clear to Pepper that he was doing so under great sufferance. “You are a horrible human being,” he told her.

“I’m the one who keeps you in whiskey and toys,” she shot back. “Captain,” she nodded to Steve. “I never pegged you for someone who plays for the home team.”

Steve straightened, his eyes narrowing. “Being with Tony doesn’t change who I am,” he growled, his arm hauling Tony closer so that he was tucked into those rather ridiculous abs like glue. “I believe the modern phrase is bisexual and Tony is deserving of everything good in this world.” 

Tony loved that his newly acquired boo was being all grr-argh, but this really wasn’t the best way to get on Pepper’s good side.

“I wasn’t insulting Tony or you, Steve,” Pepper said, pulling several wads of paperwork out of a Mary Poppins-like briefcase. “I just meant I thought you only liked women.” She kept her tone mild and Tony recognized her ‘let’s keep Tony under control’ voice.

“I’ve never looked at a guy like this before,” Steve admitted after an uncomfortable moment’s silence. “But Tony isn’t just any guy.”

Tony grinned at him. “You’re _Tony_ sexual,” he said.

“Lord,” Pepper sighed, rubbing at her eyes. “Please just sign these papers and I will leave you two to your utterly embarrassing attempts at flirting.”

“Hey!” Tony objected. “I’m the Flirt Meister!”

Pepper didn’t look impressed. “The fact that you actually call yourself the Flirt Meister hurts me to my bones, Tony. My _bones_.”

Steve just laughed. “I think he’s cute.” 

Tony felt almost obliged to protest this. “Shut up, Rogers. I am not cute. I am the opposite of cute.”

Steve reached up with his other hand and booped Tony on the nose. “Sorry, I forgot you were a manly man who mans in a manly way.”

Tony poked him in the ribs. “And don’t you forget it,” he said.

Pepper put a hand over her mouth. “I think I’m going to vomit,” she said. “It’s too early for this number of gag-inducing displays.”

“It’s six pm,” Steve said. 

“Like I said, too early.” Pepper handed Tony a pen. “Sign so that I can escape this disturbing new form of hell.”

Tony moved to the bench, reluctant to leave the comfort of Steve’s embrace and signed without bothering to look at what he was signing. It could have been a contract for his soul and he wouldn’t have given a crap.

“You should maybe read that?” Steve suggested. His smile was indulgent though.

“Pep could have taken me to the cleaners millions of times over,” Tony shrugged. “I trust her with my everything.”

“Aw,” Pepper cooed, taking the paperwork from Tony. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Well, she’d first have to get past JARVIS,” Tony amended, whimpering when she stepped on his foot with a stiletto-sharp heel. 

“I am, as always, your staunchest protector, sir.” JARVIS did dry like nobody else. Tony was so proud.

“And on that note,” Pepper said, “I’m off.”

Tony made an elaborate show of sniffing her. “You smell perfect, Pep, don’t be so hard on yourself.” This time it was Steve who dug into Tony’s ribs. He jumped away with an aggrieved noise. “Ganging up on me is not cool.”

Pepper gave them a wave as she left, the workshop doors slipping closed behind her. They both watched her going up the stairs.

“Your lady has a fine pair of pins,” Steve said.

Tony snort-laughed. “A, she’s not my lady anymore and B, she would eviscerate you if she heard you.”

Steve shrugged. “I’ve already told her.”

Tony gaped at him. “You horn-dog, have you been trying to make time with my ex?”

Steve tugged him close, hands comfortably resting on Tony’s ass. It was very distracting. “No, you idiot. I was trying to get information on you.”

Tony blinked. “On me? Why?”

Steve bent to kiss him again, sucking Tony’s brain out through his mouth. He was probably drooling by the time Steve pulled back. “Because I wanted to know more about you, Doc.”

~~~O~~~~

Natasha started reading:

“ _Thor is a creature of magic, as is his brother. He will be able to bring your loved one back. It will cost his freedom, but only then will he be truly free._

_The chair of my former masters can be of assistance. It is more than just a means to talk to me, my captain._ ”

Steve flushed when Natasha looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “She doesn’t ‘talk’ like that to me,” he said, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I just get emotions from her.”

Natasha turned her gaze back to the book. “ _Thor, god of thunder and lightning must return the source of his brother’s power to him. But my captain will have to use the power of the chair to return the trickster to his form. The god of lies will be able to heal my captain’s love._ ”

Clint made no effort to hide his laughter. “Outed by your girlfriend, Cap?” he snorted. He fell off the edge of the desk he was perched on with a yelp. Steve didn’t know who had pushed him but from the innocent expression on her face, he assumed it was Pepper. 

“Tony is my best friend,” Steve said, trying to stop blushing. “He’s hardly my love.”

“ _If the god of thunder and lightning accepts his duty, then our beloved will be returned to us._ ” Natasha looked up. “I see why you thought that it made no sense, Clint, but actually, in the myth and legend of my people passed down through generations, the people of Asgard were more than merely human.”

“What?” Steve asked. “Why didn’t you say something before?”

Natasha shrugged in that inscrutable way that drove Steve nuts. “If Thor was the last of his kind then it would be of no matter.” She tipped her head to the side, looking at a visibly uncomfortable Thor. “Your hammer is your totem.” It wasn’t a question.

Thor nodded. “Mjolnir allows me to harness the power of the storm,” he admitted. Matilda/Loki gave a yowl. “My brother had a staff, it was how he was able to take on the form of others.”

“So, find this staff, restore Matilda to Loki and let your wizard brother bring Tony back.” Steve ticked off the tasks on his fingers. “Seems simple enough.”

“When were you going to tell us that XZ134P was your home-world?” Bruce stared at Thor. “We would never have sent you back there if we’d known.”

“Asgard is no more,” Thor said, setting Matilda down. In a flash she hopped up onto Tony’s bed, curling in several circles until she found the spot she wanted. “It was of no matter what you named that world.”

Steve eyed the animal. “Maybe you should put her back in the cage. I mean, she’s already hurt Tony.” The hissed rumble was response enough.

“I am beginning to believe that my brother acted in haste,” Thor said. “If you remember, the creature was looking to attack me. Our foolishly brave friend got in the way.”

“Are you saying that you think your brother was somehow trying to communicate with you?” Clint sounded as skeptical as Steve felt.

Thor sighed. “Loki was ever resentful of my position as future leader of Asgard. He spent much of our childhood taunting and teasing me in thoughtless ways.”

“He sounds delightful,” Clint drawled. 

“You must understand that he believed that he was only there on sufferance,” Thor said, reaching out to run a hand over Matilda’s thick fur. “He was the son of a conquered world that my father adopted. We were raised as brothers in every way, but Loki always felt less than I.”

“You’re not friends then?” Pepper asked. Her eyes flicked between Tony and Matilda, much as Steve’s did. Neither of them trusted the shape-shifter it appeared.

“He’s my brother,” Thor said. “I love him and will do whatever I must to restore him to his proper form.” He paused. “What happens after is no guarantee.”

“How do we know he’ll fix Tony then?” Steve edged closer to the bed, ignoring the low growl as he approached.

Thor ran a hand through his hair. “I can only appeal to his sense of justice,” he said. “The one thing that Loki hates, is owing someone a debt. If we are able to restore him then he will owe us in return.”

“I don’t like it,” Steve said. “We take all of the risks with zero rewards secured.”

“I cannot make promises for my brother,” Thor said. “I can only swear to try.”

There was an ominous beeping sound from the bed and Bruce scurried over. “Whatever you guys are going to do, do it fast. We have a matter of hours left before his heart is completely destroyed.”

Steve felt his own heart stutter in fear. He dragged his gaze away from Tony. “Thor, do you think that Loki’s staff might still be on your old world?” He kept from using either its name or the numbers that they had given it.

“It would have to be,” Thor said. “Loki would not stray far from his power.”

“I need you to go back there,” Steve said. “Take Natasha and Clint with you. Find that staff.”

“And what are you going to do?” Pepper asked.

Steve stared at Matilda. “I’m going to take our furry friend to the control chair and see what happens.” He met those violent green eyes. “Are you going to come peacefully or do I have to put you back in that cage?’ he asked.

Matilda jumped off the bed, heading straight for Steve. She twined around his legs with a plaintive mrrraoooww. “I guess it’s the easy way then,” Steve said. He bent down and picked her up, careful of those sharp claws and teeth. She settled into his arms easily, a soft purr the only noise.

“We will return as soon as we can,” Thor said. “I have a feeling that it is not only your affinity with our fair city that will be needed. Loki and I are two parts of a whole. I think that perhaps blood will need to be spilled.”

“Well, that’s just perfect,” Pepper said. “The world’s worst plan.” She glared at Steve. “I really expect better from you, Steve.”

He walked over to touch Tony’s cheek. His skin was cool and a slightly alarming tinge of blue. “I’ll do anything to save him, Pepper. I don’t care what it is. Anything.”

~~~O~~~~

“Doc?” Tony asked, leaning back to look up at Steve. “Since when do you call me Doc?”

Steve tried to pull him back in. “Well, you _are_ a doctor, right?”

Tony resisted the appeal of those stupid biceps. “Actually, I have a couple of doctorates, but that’s not the point.” He stared at Steve. “I’m always Tony. Or if you’re pissed off at me, then it’s Stark.” He frowned. “Where did that come from?”

Steve shrugged. “Dunno,” he said, giving up on hauling Tony closer and bending to suck a kiss into Tony’s neck. “It just felt right.”

Tony felt cold suddenly. The arc reactor gave an unexpected stutter and he pushed away. “No.” 

“No?” Steve’s frown was adorably confused. “I thought this was what we wanted. I thought this was what we’ve been working towards.”

Tony took several steps back until he bumped into a beeping DUM-E. “Until today you’ve never given even the slightest indication that you might be interested in men. Let alone me.” His mind raced. “Something isn’t right.”

“Tony, what’s wrong?” Steve made a move towards him, but Tony held up a hand.

“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled.

~~~O~~~~

Steve and Matilda made their way to the chair control room. Peggy was clearly impatient as she opened access doors and transporters that Steve had never seen before to speed up their progress.

The doors to the control room opened as soon as he stepped in front of them. Matilda leaped out of his arms, heading straight for the chair. She clambered up, turning to look at him with a prr-meow. 

“I’m flying blind here,” he said as he made his way to the chair. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

Peggy pulsed a comforting golden glow around the room. He smiled. “Thanks, beautiful, but I’m so scared that this is going to be a fuck-up and Tony will be the one to pay the price.”

Peggy whispered to him in sighs. He touched the chair and it lit up. He stared down at Matilda. “Any thoughts?”

Matilda moved down the chair, leaving space for him to sit. He obeyed the silent command and she padded up his body to sit on his chest. “Oh, so that’s how it is,” he said.

Matilda kneaded his chest, turned a few times and then settled down in a feline bundle. “That’s not helpful,” Steve told her. He put one hand on the arm of the chair and another on her back, fingers digging in a little into the thick fur. “Here goes nothing.”

~~~O~~~~

“Tony, you’re freaking me out here,” Steve said, freezing when Tony flinched back again. 

DUM-E made a sound of fear and Tony reached back to pat him. “We’re okay, buddy. Right, Steve?” He lifted his chin.

“Of course we’re okay, Tony,” Steve said, all earnest blue eyes and determined jaw. “I’m crazy about you. You know this.”

Tony shook his head slowly. “Nope. That’s not entirely true,” He kept out of arms reach. “Something doesn’t make sense, and it’s not just your sudden, unending desire for my admittedly fine ass.” He spun in a slow circle around the room, making sure to inspect as much as he could. “This is all wrong.” He felt his heart racing. The arc reactor faltered in his chest and panic set in. “This isn’t my workshop.”

Steve held out a hand. “Tony, you’re having an anxiety attack. Calm down.” That steady tone should have been enough to bring Tony out of the terror spiral, but this wasn’t _his_ Cap. This wasn’t _his_ place.

“It’s wrong. I’m wrong. You’re wrong.” Tony repeated the words like a mantra, fear juddering through him like a steam train. “How did I get here?” He lifted his eyes to stare at Steve. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

Steve ignored the hands held out in front of him and gathered him close. “Hold onto me, Tony,” he whispered into his hair. “This is going to hurt. A lot.”

Tony screamed as his heart split apart. Those last few atoms that held his life together exploded and he knew to the microsecond when he died.

~~~O~~~~

Steve sat up on the chair when Matilda’s weight changed. The man draped over him had long dark hair and a sharp face, almost feline in his prettiness. He was also not wearing anything at all. Steve tried his hardest to ignore that.

“It appears that I am restored.” His voice was hoarse as he rolled off Steve, unconcerned with his nakedness. “I owe you a debt of gratitude, sir.” 

Steve stood up, offering his jacket to the new arrival. “You might want to cover up,” he suggested. 

“I am Loki of Asgard,” he said, ignoring the jacket. “Take me to my brother.”

“That’s going to have to wait until he gets back,” Steve said. He tapped his earpiece. “Pepper, you hear me?”

“I’m here, Steve,” she said immediately. “Thank god, we were so worried.”

Steve frowned. “Why? I was only under for a couple of minutes.”

Her laugh was tinged with a little hysteria. “Steve, it’s been five hours. Thor and the others got back about half an hour ago. Tony’s out of time.” 

He started running before she’d finished speaking, grabbing Loki by the arm, naked or not.

“Unhand me!” Loki demanded. “Peasants do not have leave to touch a prince of Asgard.”

“Shut the fuck up and run,” Steve growled. Something in his face must have made Loki rethink his position because he picked up the pace at once.

“Thor Odinson will be there?” he asked, slightly breathless as Atlantis once again eased Steve’s way.

“Yes, and I’m hoping he’s brought whatever magical doo-dad you need to heal my friend,” Steve said. The transporter was taking too long and he tapped his fingers against his thigh, counting the seconds. “You said that you’re in my debt.”

Loki’s eyes, the same cat-like green of Matilda’s, narrowed. “I always repay my debts,” he said, lifting his chin. “Within reason, of course.”

“All you have to do is reverse whatever you did to poison my friend,” Steve said as the transporter shuddered to a stop. Peggy had brought them right to the infirmary. 

Loki followed him in, still nude, still indifferent. “I can do many things, but the venom from the Jotun is not for mortals to bear.” Everyone turned anxious faces to them. He ignored the tears that streaked Pepper’s cheeks and the fact the Clint and Natasha were standing beside Tony’s bed with their heads bowed.

Steve spun to face him. “You _will_ find a way!” he roared.

Bruce’s hand fell on his shoulder. “Steve. Stop.” Steve turned to look at Bruce. Bruce, whose eyes were red and mouth was trembling. “It’s too late.”

Steve raced to Tony’s bed, shoving Natasha and Clint out of the way. He was only vaguely aware of Thor grabbing his brother in the periphery of his vision. Tony lay there, unmoving, blue-tinged lips closed and skin colder than ice.

Steve screamed. He screamed and screamed until he lost his voice, and still, he couldn’t stop trying to scream.

“Steve. Steve. _**Steve**_!” Pepper was there, hands on his face. “You need to get it together!”

Tony was dead. 

Bright, funny, arrogant, obnoxious, wonderful Tony was dead. He had been too late.

Again.

~~~O~~~~

Tony cracked his eyes open. He wasn’t dead. “Huh,” he said.

A gorgeous brunette stood in front of him, mouth red as the suit she wore and almost too bright to look at. “Are you God?”

Her laughter shook the universe. “No, Tony, I am not _your_ God, but I suppose, in a way, you could call me _a_ god.”

“Who are you?” Tony struggled to his feet, taking note of the endless night around him. Stars upon stars stretched until all he could see was a blanket of diamond light. He felt a momentary dizziness as he stood among the galaxies.

“You are asleep, near death. And I am here to guide you home.” Her eyes were same as the skies, starry eternity in their depths.

“What does that mean?” he asked. He frowned, a thought striking suddenly. “Are you Atlantis?” He stared at her. “Are you Steve’s Peggy?”

She smiled. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you for so very long, Tony. My captain adores you so.”

“Wait, what?” Tony sputtered. “We’re not like that!” 

Her smile widened. “And if I were to tell you of his talks with me as he roams my halls, confessing deep secrets to the only one he trusts to keep them?”

Tony was staggered. He needed to sit down. But chairs weren’t exactly in much supply here. “He likes me?”

She laughed again, this time real joy enveloped him as warm as a hug. “He _loves_ you, Tony.”

“How about that,” Tony mused, amazed and delighted. He stopped. “But you said that I’m dying,” he remembered. 

“And so you are.” She held out a hand. “You dreamt of a life where you and our captain were in love.”

Tony flushed. “It felt so real.”

Peggy waggled her fingers at him. “This is your chance, your choice, Tony Stark. Do you accept your fate and die here today, possibly to Ascend to the next plane of existence?”

“Or?” Tony asked, finally taking her slender hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong.

“Or you let me help you,” Peggy said. “The mortals do not know that I can use pieces of myself to heal you. Your heart is broken, Tony.”

“I don’t understand,” Tony said. “I thought you said he loves me.”

“Perhaps I used the incorrect expression,” Peggy said with a frown. “I meant that your physical heart cannot function any longer due to the poison from the Jotun shape-shifter. I can make some repairs that will keep you alive and with our captain, if you wish?”

“Yes, I want that option!” Tony exclaimed. “I didn’t think I had a chance with Steve and now you’re telling me that he actually wants me? Hell to the yes!” He sucked in a breath. It hurt. “I’ve got a feeling that I don’t have much time, though.”

Peggy touched his face. “You choose my beloved over Ascension?” she asked. “You must be sure.”

“Yes.” Tony put his hand over hers. It was like touching electricity. “A thousand times yes.”

She pulled him close, whispered in his ear. “Hold on to me, Tony Stark. I fear that this will cause you much pain.”

She cut him open then, pulled out the ruined pieces of his heart and held them in her hand. Tony wept as she dug into him, slicing flesh away with blades like razors. 

And then she began to put him back together. Slowly. Carefully. Precisely. Parts of stars and bits of planets slid together as Atlantis created a heart for him.

Tony could feel it. The moment that his heart began to beat again. “Thank you,” he sighed, the pain easing with every breath.

“Be happy, my doctor,” she crooned. “You shall no longer age as mortals do. Part of my gift to you is the fragment of a star that beats in your chest. You will keep our captain company for millennia to come. You are mine now as my captain is mine.”

She pushed his hair back from his forehead. “It’s time to wake up now, dearest.”

Tony opened his eyes.

~~~O~~~~

Thor was holding Steve down as he thrashed. He couldn’t get away. He was drowning in grief. Everyone was either shouting at him or crying over Tony, and Steve just wanted to follow him into the void.

“What the fuck?” It was so unusual to hear Bruce swear that there was instant silence in the infirmary.

Steve heard it then. The beep-beep-beep of the monitor attached to Tony’s chest.

“That’s not possible,” Bruce said, pushing them all away from Tony’s bed. “I called it ten minutes ago.”

“Bruce?” Steve croaked, finally released by Thor. “What’s going on?”

“Tony’s heart just started beating again,” Bruce said, sounding utterly baffled. “I don’t understand…”

Tony’s eyes flew open and he sat up with a gasp.

Steve didn’t blame Clint or Natasha for pulling a gun on him. Their experience with the Replicators had made them suspicious of any sort of miraculous healing.

But Steve didn’t care. He walked towards Tony, fists clenched. “Is it you?” he asked, voice scratched and throat raw.

Tony looked at him. “It’s me, Cap,” he affirmed. “By the way, Peggy says hi.”

Steve fell into Tony, wrapping him in his arms as he shoved his tear-damp face into Tony’s neck. “I thought I’d lost you,” he breathed into warm, alive skin.

Tony’s arms came up around him, holding on just as tightly. “Your girl had other plans,” he said, pressing a kiss to Steve’s sweaty hair. “She decided to use her initiative.”

Steve finally sat back after several, increasingly annoyed, requests from Bruce. He didn’t want to let Tony go. It felt like that he might drop back down on that bed again, cold as ice and gone forever.

“I need to run some tests,” Bruce told Tony.

Tony opened his mouth to whine when he looked at Bruce. Kind, loyal, constant Bruce who looked like he hadn’t slept in months. “Okay,” he said voice uncharacteristically meek. 

Steve moved away as Bruce bustled around the bed, muttering to himself as he poked and prodded at an atypically calm Tony. He leaned against a wall and felt Atlantis hum beneath him. 

“Thank you,” he murmured. It was so soft that nobody else heard him. Peggy pulsed against him, her energy calming him as he watched Bruce examine Tony.

~~~O~~~~

“I told you that I was fine,” Tony said, eventually tired and irritated with the constant clucking around him.

Bruce peered at him over his glasses. “You were _dead_ , Tony. For ten minutes, at least.”

“I’m a walking, talking, breathing phenomenon,” Tony agreed. “But we are now done with the invasive alien probing.”

None of the team had left. Natasha and Pepper rested against each other on the sofa in the corner of the infirmary. Clint had commandeered another bed and was sitting cross-legged, sleeping with his eyes open, a talent that Tony refused to admit he was envious of. Thor and a slender stranger were talking quietly to each other. Every now and then Thor would reach out to touch him as though he wanted to ensure he wasn’t seeing things. His companion was skittish, often dodging the big hand, but allowing it occasionally with a put-upon air that told Tony he was just as eager to reaffirm Thor’s presence. 

And Steve. Steve remained slumped against the wall, watching every move that Bruce made, every twitch of Tony’s muscles, every deep breath he sucked in. It was incredibly weird, but also intimate. Steve’s eyes never left Tony. He kept his gaze scanning up and down the length of Tony’s body like a constant conveyer belt of assurance.

“I swear, I’m okay, Cap,” Tony said, this time, less annoyed, more careful. “Come here.” He held out a hand and Steve immediately pushed away from the wall, grabbing hold.

“Peggy told us how to help save you,” Steve said, voice still rough and gravelly. Tony _really_ liked it. “She found a way to talk to us and told us what to do.”

“Who is that?” Tony asked, tipping his head towards Thor and the newcomer.

Steve gave a chuckle. “That is Loki, Thor’s brother, otherwise known as Matilda the Jotun cat thing that bit you.”

“Matilda?” Tony squeaked, taking another look at Loki. “Well, he does have the look of a feline about him,” he said eventually. This was clearly a story that needed much alcohol and a lot more time.

“Tony, I’m sorry we took so long. That you died.” Steve shook his head. “When Bruce told me that I was too late…” he choked up, blue eyes anguished. “I failed you.”

“Hey,” Tony lifted their joined hands to his chest where his heartbeat gave its steady lup-dub. “I’m alive. Peggy gave part of the universe as well as pieces of herself to me so that I could live. She thinks you’re the best thing since chocolate, by the way.”

Steve stared at their hands, content to feel the reassurance of life beneath Tony’s skin. “She talked to you?” he asked.

“ _Talks_ ,” Tony said. “She hasn’t shut up since I regained consciousness. She has a crap-load of things she wants us to do to help her run more efficiently.”

“She’s still talking to you?” Steve asked and suddenly everyone was interested again. Tony missed the disruption of the Tony/Steve bubble.

“Typical woman,” Tony joked. “Doesn’t know when to stop.”

A shrill whistle had them all startling. “Oops,” Tony said, but he didn’t pretend to be sorry. “I’d better be careful what I say from now on.”

“She _talks_ to you?” Steve repeated, sounding like a stuck record.

“Well, yeah,” Tony said. “You know, like she talks to you.” 

Steve shook his head. “She doesn’t actually talk to me, Tony. She sends me feelings, reassurance. Not actual words.” 

“Huh,” Tony said. “Is that true?” he asked Atlantis. The walls pulsated blue and red and then red and gold. It was answer enough. “We’re going to have to set some boundaries, you know that, right Peggy?”

“I think your lady may not be impressed about having to share you,” Clint said with a grin.

Tony listened again to words that nobody else could hear. It made Steve clench his jaw. He wasn't jealous dammit.

“Peggy said I should tell you this,” Tony said, grabbing Steve's face between his hands and kissing him until his head swam. “She's tired of us pretending that we're not crazy about each other.”

Steve's dazed expression was priceless. He cleared his throat. “Um.” The sound of laughter was an echo in his head. “I guess I'd better listen to the lady then.”

He bent down and kissed Tony back.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for "You are the Worst Hallucination Ever" by CydSA](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12750837) by [paleogymnast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paleogymnast/pseuds/paleogymnast)




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